The thread of book recommendations

I have read some really good books lately and I wanted to toss them out here to see if anyone else has read them or has any comments on them. Feel free to add your own favorites.

1. The Road - Cormac McCarthy - I read this last summer, and it is just an incredibly well written book. Its post apocalyptic fiction with a heavy dose of father-son relationship stuff as they fight off the cannibals and try to live in a world devastated. Highly recommended - MattDP also wrote a great review of the book here.
2. Dreams of Terror and Death: The Dream Cycle of H. P. Lovecraft by H. P. Lovecraft - I read this two years ago (during my honeymoon actually) but I feel like I need to pimp it here a little bit since we have so many Arkham Horror fans. Its a cheap entry into the lovecraft world, and the dream cycle is my favorite subgenre within lovecraft's work. You can get similar $10 paperbacks covering his cthulhu mythos stories and some others. I like the dream cycle because of its introspective look into the world that exists for those fleeting moments when you aren't sure if you are awake or asleep. The sense of cosmic despair evoked by At the Mountains of Madness and similar stories isn't there, but to be honest I find I can relate my own experiences to the dream cycle much better, and that makes it scarier for me.
3. Let the Galaxy Burn (Warhammer 40,000 Short Stories) - This is maybe more Anglo-trash than Ameritrash, but I am a sucker for the 40K universe and a sucker for short stories too. Many of the stories in this one are stinkers, but there are also a few real gems. Its a great introduction into the world of 40K and a must read for fans of the miniatures game. With all the different short stories, you get a flavor for many different races and wars.
4. Dune, 40th Anniversary Edition (Dune Chronicles, Book 1) by Frank Herbert I'll admit, I hadn't read this until this year. Someone should have forced it on me because it is a fantastic read. I doubt the sequels will live up to the high bar set by this one, but I will read them anyway. This is a must read for any sci-fi geek, especially now that the nice 40th Anny edition is available for like $6.

Also, if you are going to buy some of these books (or anything else) off of Amazon, you can go through the FAT Amazon Store and we will get some blood money off of your purchase. We make no cash from the site, but it helps us pay for stuff and costs you nothing if you were going to buy the books anyway.

Anyone got any other book suggestions?

I just finished the first omnibus of Glen Cook's CHRONICLES OF THE BLACK COMPANY series...I didn't really care for it at first, but getting into the second and third books it's almost written like a cross between a crime novel and a war story. It's pretty good stuff. It's not incredible writing or anything but it's a cool story with good characters and some crazy action. Good fantasy, no frills.

Just started reading THE BLADE ITSELF, recommended by a F:ATtie in the last book thread we ran...130 pages in and I love it. It's written on a much more mainstream keel than most fantasy- very on-the-level and modern. Actually pretty funny, too.

I read practically nothing but SF last year...this is going to be the year of fantasy and next year is crime.

Has anyone read Riddley Walker, by Russell Hoban? I keep looking at it but can't decide.

Star Wars: Republic Commando series by Karen Traviss is absolutely awesome, if you're into the Star Wars thing. Which I am. A lot.

The Republic Commando books are great because, aside from a cameo at the beginning of Book 2 from Jango Fett, they feature entirely new (ie. not in the films) characters. And this is a good thing. The quality of a Star Wars novel is inversely proportional to the number of Lucas created characters in it.

The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman is a truly awesome zombie comic series, currently available in hardback and paperback.

That's pretty much all I've read recently. Star Wars and zombie comics. Being emotionally fourteen rocks.

Dreams of Terror and Death: The Dream Cycle of H. P. Lovecraft by H. P. Lovecraft - I read this two years ago (during my honeymoon actually) but I feel like I need to pimp it here a little bit since we have so many Arkham Horror fans. Its a cheap entry into the lovecraft world, and the dream cycle is my favorite subgenre within lovecraft's work. You can get similar $10 paperbacks covering his cthulhu mythos stories and some others. I like the dream cycle because of its introspective look into the world that exists for those fleeting moments when you aren't sure if you are awake or asleep. The sense of cosmic despair evoked by At the Mountains of Madness and similar stories isn't there, but to be honest I find I can relate my own experiences to the dream cycle much better, and that makes it scarier for me.

Lovecraft for the absolute win, all the way. I've been into Lovecraft since I was fourteen (twelve years) and I'm never cocking stopping.

I do have to point out, though, that you can get a cheaper copy here .

Barnes, make sure that you read The Silver Spike. I don't know if it will get collected in an omnibus, because it's kind of an offshoot of the main storyline. After the events of The White Rose (the third book), there is a split between the main characters. Most of them head south for the adventures of the rest of the Black Company series, but a few stay in the North for one kickass story told in The Silver Spike. Take the intensity of the second book and dial it up to 11.

When the Black Company heads south, it's rough going for the reader for a couple of books, with lots of new characters and schemes introduced. It's worth the trouble, though, as Cook eventually takes the story to some very interesting situations and places.

Apparently there is now a prequel trilogy that chronicles life under the Dread Empire. Not sure if that is the Lady's operation, or the one that her "husband" ran long before that.

Has anyone read Riddley Walker, by Russell Hoban? I keep looking at it but can't decide.

I really want to read this, I've been meaning to pick it up for years. It sounds _great_. And I loved BREAD AND JAM FOR FRANCES.

Michael Barnes wrote:

Just started reading THE BLADE ITSELF, recommended by a F:ATtie in the last book thread we ran...130 pages in and I love it. It's written on a much more mainstream keel than most fantasy- very on-the-level and modern. Actually pretty funny, too.

I'll be reading those soon, the word-of-mouth on that series has been incredibly positive.

Joe Abercrombie has also done some work on Iron Maiden dvds, so what's not to like about the man?

Shellhead wrote:

Apparently there is now a prequel trilogy that chronicles life under the Dread Empire. Not sure if that is the Lady's operation, or the one that her "husband" ran long before that.

Naw, Dread Empire is a completely unrelated series to Black Company, written previously by Glen Cook.

BTW, Cook has one or two more BC books up his sleeve, although he's finishing some other projects before he gets there.

Fiction

Lucifer's Hammer by Larry Niven

The List of Seven

The Six Messiahs

The Second Objective all by Mark Frost

Red Army by Ralph Peters

Non-Fiction

A World Undone: The Story of the Great War 1914-1918 by G.J. Meyer

An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa, 1942-1943

The Day of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943-1944

Crusade: The Untold Story of the Persian Gulf War all 3 by Rick Atkinson

LIST OF SEVEN...that was a pretty cool book...wonder whatever happened to the movie...

6 Messiahs is a sequel. I didn't think it was as good as List of 7 but it was still pretty good. Second Objective is the author's take on a historical fiction action story featuring Nazi "werewolves" during the battle of the bulge.

List of Seven was too close to the Sherlock Holmes inspiration. I loved Six Messiahs in all of its bold cheesiness. The samurai was especially cool.

I just finished the following:

Same Place, Same Things (short stories) by Tim Gautreaux
Poachers (short stories) by Tom Franklin
Twilight by William Gay
The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster
Gun, With Occasional Music by Jonathan Lethem

I just started on Demon Theory by Stephen Graham Jones.

My sister-in-law got me Rudyard Kipling's Tales of Horror and Fantasy.

I recommend most of the above, especially Twilight.

Following Donald E. Westlake's recent death, I've been re-reading his Richard Stark "Parker" series. High recommended.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_E._Westlake

hancock.tom wrote:

Has anyone read Riddley Walker, by Russell Hoban? I keep looking at it but can't decide.

I really dug it, it's been a few years since but it was one of my faves that I mean to go back to eventually.

My strong recommendations

The Grifters by Jim Thompson
Last Exit to Brooklyn by Hubert Selby
Battle Royale by Koushun Takami
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
Black Hole by Charles Burns
Shane by Jack Schaefer (i fucking hated the movie!)
True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen by Alan Moore, Kevin O'Neill & Co.

Here's my generic recommendations:

DUNE by Frank Herbert. An achievement of imagination. The best telling of The Reluctant Messiah ever written. The sequels are echoes of this masterpiece. If you can find a copy of THE DUNE ENCYCLOPEDIA, read that too--it's got amazing background and was blessed by the author. It was susbsequently unblessed by the author's shitty son so he could write his shitty prequels that are shitty. You have been warned. Robots with brains in them. Jesus.

CRYPTONOMICON by Neal Stephenson. If you are a nerd, this book is great. If you are not, you will be confused. Pretty much everyone readin this website is a nerd, so I recommend it. There'sin here, people.

FOUCAULT'S PENDULUM by Umberto Eco. A trio of publishers decide to make some dough allowing conspiracy theorists to self-publish. The money's so good, they cook up their own--or do they? Fucking mindbending.

THE ROAD by Cormac McCarthy. I felt like I was getting punched in the solar plexus while reading this thing. It's an amazing and brutal read.

THE SHINING by Stephen King. This is the only Stephen King novel I would recommend. The others are kind of generic, and often overlong. This book, on the other hand, is the modern American gothic novel. His short story collections are breathtaking: NIGHT SHIFT, SKELETON CREW, and DIFFERENT SEASONS are all excellent.

NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR by George Orwell. He nailed it.

COLLAPSE by Jared Diamond. An exploration of how societies fail. One of the interesting topics explored: What was going through the head of the person that chopped down the last tree on Easter Island?